Newswise — Barely 25 years after emerging from the turmoil of Maoist rule, China today is bestriding the world as a technological colossus, according to a special report in the June 2005 issue of IEEE Spectrum.
China's heft is felt worldwide in nearly every sector and along the entire chain of economic activity. The country's ravenous appetite for energy and raw materials is influencing commodity markets in every continent. In the special report, "China's Tech Revolution," the editors of Spectrum focus on how technology is driving this unprecedented boom.
Among the topics explored: * How a long-overdue upgrade to China's Internet will either aid or thwart the central government's strict censorship policies. * How consumer electronics companies are racing to roll out digital television by the 2008 Beijing Olympics. * How electric bicycles are selling by the millions in China, and challenging the country's encroaching car culture. * How Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers are flocking to the mainland, but could risk losing their lead to domestic chipmakers.
The report also looks at the potentially explosive social and economic problems, any one of which could slow or even halt progress--rural and labor unrest, wholesale intellectual property theft, chronic energy shortfalls and pollution, and volatile relationships with many of China's main trading partners.
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